Who was Vidip Jadhav, Ajit Pawar's PSO who died in Baramati plane crash?

Mumbai Police constable Vidip Jadhav among five killed in Baramati crash. (Image: @singhvarun/ @Riteishd/ X)

Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Ajit Pawar passed away on Wednesday morning after the private aircraft he was travelling in crashed near Baramati in Pune district.

As per reports, the Learjet 45 aircraft, registered as VT-SSK and operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, had taken off from Mumbai at around 8.10 am. It was headed to Baramati, where Pawar was scheduled to attend rallies linked to the upcoming Zilla Parishad elections 2026. The plane crashed while attempting to land at the Baramati airstrip at around 8.45 am, officials said.

The accident also claimed the lives of four others including his Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav, a Mumbai Police constable from the 2009 batch, along with three other crew members.

Vidip Jadhav was serving as the PSO to Ajit Pawar at the time of the incident. A Mumbai Police constable from the 2009 batch, Jadhav had been assigned to protect Pawar during his election campaign in the Baramati region. He was on duty when the aircraft went down.

As reported by The Times of India, news of Jadhav’s death led to scenes of grief in his neighbourhood of Vitawa in Thane’s Kalwa area. Residents said a sense of shock settled over the locality as details of the crash became known.

Jadhav lived in Vitawa with his family and is survived by his aged parents, a 14-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. His house remained locked on Wednesday as his parents had travelled to their native place.

Neighbours remembered Jadhav as a person who maintained close ties with the local community. Shruti Wadekar, who had known him for over 22 years, said she addressed him as “Dada” and spoke about seeing him earlier that morning. “I saw him leave for work around 6.30am. Barely two hours later, we heard he was no more. I never thought this would happen,” she said.

Another neighbour, who had known Jadhav for nearly 27 years, recalled seeing him off as he left for duty. As Jadhav walked away, he waved in his usual manner, a routine exchange that had taken place many times before. The neighbour said, “It never crossed our minds that this would be the last time we saw him. That wave keeps replaying in my head.”

Apart from Ajit Pawar and Vidip Jadhav, those lost lives included flight attendant Pinki Mali, staff member Sumit Kapoor, and the two pilots, Captain Sahil Madan and Shambhavi Pathak The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered a detailed investigation to determine the cause of the crash.

Following the crash, the Maharashtra government announced three days of state mourning. A public holiday was also declared as a mark of respect. Pawar will be accorded a full state funeral, with the last rites scheduled to be held in Baramati on Thursday.